Invalid lift



July 20, 1954 o p $M|TH 2,683,882

INVALID LIFT Filed Oct. 23, 1951 4 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. Gesorv P SM/ TH HTTOBNEYJ 0. P. SMITH INVALID LIFT July 20, 1954 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 23, 1951 Q INVENTOR. w F ORwNQJMITI-I I a o BY ATTOQNEYS July 20, 1954 o. P. SMITH INVALID LIFT Filed 001;. 25, 1951 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 o L INVENTOR. O/esO/v P 5M1 TH 1477 OB/YE Y6 July 20, 1954 o. P. SMITH 2,683,882

INVALID LIFT Filed Oct. 23, 1951 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 RESERVOlR INVENTOR. ORSON 1 SM/ TH 14 T TOE/YE Y5 Patented July 20, 1954 TED STAT s ATENT OFFICE Claims.

This invention relates to invalid handling mechanism of the character of, but having advantages and improvements over, the invalid lift of my United States Patent No. 2,494,591, issued on January 17, 1950; it being the principal object of this invention to provide an easily movable device, generally referred to as an invalid lift, whereby invalids, or others who are bed-ridden or immobilized by reason of injury, or while anaesthetized, may be lifted from a bed, moved and lowered to a position for treatment, or of rest upon the same or upon another bed.

More specifically stated, the principal object of the present invention resides in the provision of an easily movable invalid lift, adapted to be rolled from and into various positions of use, and comprising a base housing adapted to be pushed beneath the usual hospital bed, and upon one side portion of which is a rotatably mounted standard which at its upper end mounts a cross-beam from the opposite ends of which, arms extend laterally andL suspend a stretcher therefrom upon which the patient can be lifted from the bed, carried, turned, lowered into a chair or bath, or placed again upon the same or upon another bed.

It is a further object of the invention to provide means within the base structure of the device for winding in or paying out the cables to raise or lower the stretcher accordingly.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide an invalid lift or" the above character which provides for the free rotation of the standard for the carrying of a patient as supported on the sus pended stretcher, from a position over a bed from which he has been lifted'to a position for being lowered onto an adjacent bed, and to equip the base structure of the lift with supports or legs that are laterally extendable therefrom to suppcrtingly engage the floor so that the swinging of the patient to such position will not result in the tipping of the lift.

It is a further object of the invention to provide operating connections between the extendable legs and the rotatable standard whereby the legs will be caused to be automatically extended incident to that turning of the standard that disposes the suspended stretcher laterally of the base structure.

Other objects of the invention are found in the arrangement and manner of use of hydraulic jacks for the raising and lowering of the stretcher.

Still further objects of the invention reside in the details of construction of the various parts and in their relationship and mode of use, as will hereinafter be fully described.

.in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a horizontal section through the base portion of the lift,.taken substantially on the line 4-4 in Fig. 6 and showing the cable system and hydraulic jacks.

Fig. 5 is a verticalsection through the base portion of thelift, takensubstantially on line 55.in Fig. 4.

Fig. .6 is a vertical section on line .65 in Fig. 4; parts being broken away for better illustration.

Fig. 7 is a horizontal section taken on the line 1-1 in Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is a sectional detail in the vertical plane of line 8-8 in Fig. 4, showing one of the laterally extendable supporting legs in its retracted position.

Fig. '9 is a similar sectional View, showing the supporting leg in .its extended position of support.

Fig. 10 is a diagrammatic illustration of the hydraulic central system for the control of the stretcher lifting jacks.

Referring more in detail to the drawings- It is the intent that the present device shall be so designed and constructed that it can be easily rolled along the floor from room to room, or from one location to another in a room, and that it be'of such size, and so limited in its weight that its use in present day hospitals by nurses is easily and readily accomplished.

.In its present preferred form of construction the lift comprises a box-like base frame or'hous ing designated in its entirety by reference numeral I0. This housing is designed to contain the hydraulic jacks, and the controls therefor and the cable systems. It is rectangular in plan, as shown best in Fig. 4, and is so limited in its horizontal dimension and depth or height that it can be easily'rolled to position beneath the ordinary type of hospital bed. At its four corners, the'base housing is equipped with caster wheels 'I I of thecharacter shown in Figs. 4 and 6, which provide for the easy rolling of the lift in any direction merely by pushing it in that direction.

At one side of and centrally between its ends, a tubular standard 52 is supported on the housing It? for axial rotation. To permit the stand ard to be so rotated, the lower end portion thereof is rotatably contained in vertically spaced hearing rings l3 and I4 that are fixedly secured in the frame structure of the base housing. The standard is supported in the bearings by means of an annular flange, or shoulder i5 that is formed about or fixed to the standard to engage flatly against the top surface of the bearing i3, as best shown in Fig. 6. When the lift is positioned adjacent a bed for its ordinary uses, the base structure it is disposed directly beneath the bed with the standard l2 closely adjacent a side edge thereof. It extends to a substantial distance above the level of the bed.

Rigidly fixed to the standard [2 at its upper end, is a horizontal cross-beam [E in the form of a hollow housing. This beam normally extends equally toward opposite ends of the base structure and at its ends is equipped with hollow, integrally formed arms Il--|l. These arms extend equally to the same side of the beam i6, as seen in Fig. 1. Upon rotating the standard it, the cross-beam l6 and arms l'l-Il can be swung from a position over the base H], as seen in Fig. 1, to a directly oppositely extending position, or to any intermediate position. These arms I'l-l'l are of such length that the stretcher that is used in connection with the lift, and presently to be described in detail, when suspended from their outer ends can be disposed directly over or upon a bed beneath which the base structure 10 has been disposed.

The stretcher used in connection with the present lift, and designated in its entirety by numeral 20, can be of various forms but preferably comprises a rigid, metal frame structure of rectangular form, provided by parallel opposite side rails 20a20a of tubular form, and cross rails 2Elb-2 (lb that join the side rails across their opposite ends. Extended between the opposite side rails at regularly spaced and substantially close intervals, are flexible straps 2! for the support of a patient thereon. These straps are detachably secured at their ends to the rails to adapt them for use in a manner as described in my co-pending application filed under Serial No. 21,840 on April 19, 1948, now Patent No. 2,614,266, to provide for the easy placement on or removal of the patient from the stretcher.

Connected with the opposite side rails near each of the opposite ends of the stretcher, are suspending cables 25-25 which are attached to and diverge downwardly from the ends of lifting cables 2626. Each of the cables 26 extends upwardly from its point of connection with the cables 25-25, and passes over a sheave wheel 28 mounted in the outer end portion of the corresponding arm H, and from this sheave, it extends within and along the arm and about a sheave wheel 29 mounted within the corresponding outer end portion of the cross beam it. From the sheaves 2929, the cables 25-25 extend within the cross-beam [5 to the upper end of the tubular standard l2, and there pass over sheave wheels 36-40 mounted on the upper end of the standard as well shown in Fig. 6. From these latter sheave wheels, the cables 26-2B extend downwardly through the standard and from its lower end passing about sheaves 32-32 that are mounted in a yoke 33 carried on a cross-beam 3 that is fixed in the base housing In as seen in Fig. 6. From their respective sheaves 32 the cables extend forwardly along the cross-beam 34 and, respectively, about sheaves 35 and 35a that are mounted on the beam and then toward opposite ends of the base housing and after being wound about pulley systems, presently described, are attached at their ends respectively, to the ends of piston rods 40 of hydraulic jacks ll-4|, as shown in Fig. 4.

Each of the pulley systems about which these cables are applied comprises a single sheave wheel 42 mounted in a yoke 43 at the end of the corresponding piston rod, and two sheaves 44 and 44' on a common axis 45 carried by a yoke 46 that is fixed to a rigid part of the base frame structure spaced from the sheave 42.

Each cable extends from its guide sheave 35 outwardly and passes about the sheave 44 of its pulley system, thence extends inwardly and about the corresponding sheave 42, thence outwardly and about the sheave 44, thence again inwardly and is secured at its end to a bracket 4! at the end of the piston rod 40. Thus with the retracting of the piston rods, the raising of the opposite end portions of the stretcher is accomplished. Furthermore, the arrangement provides for the raising and lowering of the stretcher to its full limits with relatively short movements of the piston rods.

The hydraulic jack cylinders 4l-4l' are arranged horizontally and in close parallel relationship lengthwise of the base housing as in Fig. 4, and are fixed against movement therein. Pressure medium as delivered to the opposite ends of the jack cylinders for the actuation of their pistons and piston rods is controlled by a system as shown in Fig. 10, wherein 50 designates a pump adapted to be driven by an electric motor 51, shown in Fig. 6 to be mounted in the base structure. Oil or other suitable fluid pressure medium is drawn to the pump from a storage tank 52, through a pipe 53, and is discharged from the pump through a pipe 55, cutoff valve 56, and pipe 51 to distributing lines 5859 leading respectively to four-Way valves 60 and 6!. Each of these valves is connected by pipes B and to the outer and inner ends of the respective jack cylinders ll-41. Also the valves are connected by pipes 6B61 with a return line 63 to the storage tank 52. By manual manipulation of the valves 60-6l, the pressure medium can be applied to the hydraulic cylinders as required to raise or lower the stretcher. Also, if desired to raise or lower one end of the stretcher with respect to the other end. The relative positions can then be held by closing the valves 68 and BI. Assuming that a patient has been placed on the stretcher and lifted from a bed while the stretcher is in a position over the base In as seen in Fig. 1, and it is desired then to turn the standard 26 so as to carry the patient to the opposite side of the standard for lowering onto a table or into another bed, the operator merely rotates the standard manually by pressure against one end of the cross-beam 16. To stabilize the stretcher during such turning, I have rigidly fixed downwardly extended posts 15 in each end of the cross-beam l6, and on the adjacent side rail 29a of the stretcher 28 have applied guides 16 through which the posts extend as shown in Fig. 1. Thus the stretcher is held against sway, and is caused to turn with the turning of the standard.

The guides 16 are closed at one side by pivoted and are attached thereto.

nseam latch pieces 16 which maybe swung -out= ofhold- 'ing position for the disconnection oft "the guides fromtheposts'lB.

In order that the weight of the patient will not operate "to tip the lift, upon swinging the stretcher to the position laterally 'of the base frame structure, I have "equipped 'the base, at its opposite ends, with laterally extendable legs 8B80, shown in retracted position -'in Fig. 4. Each of these .legs is supported for longitudinal guided travel between two lower rollers -81 and 82, and overlying rollers 83 and "84 asbest shown in Fig. '9. .Each leg .is equippedat its outer end with a caster wheel 85.

When the stretcher is'supported over the base housin Ii), the legsBB-tllare retracted and are yieldingly retained in 'theirre'tracte'd positions by the pull thereon of coiled springs 86 that have ends attached to 'the base frame structure, and their opposite .cnds attached to pull cables 880 that are attached to thelegs. "These springs as shown in Fig. 4, are arranged close to .and in parallel relationship adjacent the outer'side wall of the housing ill, and the cables extend therefrom over sheaves '8'? to the correspondin legs However, when the standard is rotated to carry the stretcherand patient to the opposite side, laterally of the base, where support is required to prevent possible lateral tipping, the legs are automatically extended. This is accomplished by means of pull cables 9ii90 attached to the legs at their inner ends and extended therealong to cable Winding drums 9!-9| mounted to turn on supporting shafts 2-92. Fixed upon and coaxially of the drums Eli-9i, are cable winding drums 93-93 of substantially smaller diameter, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5. Cables 95-95 are Wound on the drums 93-93 and extended therefrom to the standard I? and are fixed to lugs 96-96 on the opposite sides thereof. This cable arrangement is such that in rotating the standard toward one direction, or the other, the cables 95-45 are both drawn from the drums 93-93, thus rotating the drums 9i9| to which they are fixed, and causing the cables 99-90 to be wound in thereon and the legs 8Q 85 extended accordingly as has been shown in Fig. 9. With the rotating of the standard back to starting position, the coiled springs 85-86 return the legs to their retracted positions.

A feature of the leg design is disclosed in Figs. 8 and 9, wherein it is shown that each leg 80 has a downwardly and outwardly inclined portion 88:: near its outer end. When this portion passes outwardly between the guide rollers 84 and 8! in the extending of the leg, the outer end of the leg is caused to move downwardly to thus contact the caster with the floor to give firm support. Likewise, when this part of the leg passes between the guide rollers with the retraction of the leg, it causes the leg 2% to be moved as to lift the caster from the floor.

The usual method of using the present device to move a patient, is to roll it to position with the base IQ below the bed and the arms lI-IT extended over the bed. The straps of the stretcher are then passed beneath the patient, and secured at their ends to the side rails of the stretcher. Then the lifting cables 26-26 are caused to be wound in by opening the valve 56 and valves 60 and BI to deliver the pressure medium to the inner ends of the cylinders 4 l l I When the patient has thus been lifted, the valves can be closed to retain the stretcher in its lifted 6 position. If it is desired to lift one end of the stretcher above the other, the valves -61 are manipulated accordingly.

lhe "lifted patient can be then transported to :a place for treatment or rest, and lowered onto 'a' bed or table. Ifnecessary or convenient to do so, the patient can'be swung to the other sideo'f the base by the turning of the standard. If such is done, the legs 80-"89 will be extended automatically to insure against tipping the machine. In its up and down movements the stretcher is guided and 'held against endwise or lateral sway by the guide posts 15 as contained in the guides 16.

The control'valves 56, 6!} and BI, and the switch Which controlsthe fiow of current to the electric "motor 5| can be located at any convenient place on thebase'of the machine.

The present device provides for the easy and quick lifting of patients, and conveying them without injury. It also provides for the lifting of 'a'patient for bedding-change or for treatment that cannot be given while he is prone in bed. Handling of severely injured persons by this means and in the way indicated is safely and most practically accomplished.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new therein, and desire to secure by Letters Patent;is

1. An invalid lift of the character described comprisin a caster mounted, supporting base structure having dimensions substantially equal to adapting it to be moved to and from a position beneath a bed, a vertical standard rotatably mounted on said base structure, medially of its ends and at one side thereof, and of a length to extend substantially above the bed beneath which the said base structure may be disposed, a cross-beam of substantially the length of the bed fixed to the upper end of the standard, having laterally directed arms at its opposite ends adapted to be disposed directly over the said base structure and bed and by rotative adjustment of the standard, to be swung from that position to a position extending laterally of the supporting base and bed, cable winding means mounted in the base structure, cables extended from said winding mechanism, within said standard and cross-beam and downwardly from the arms of the latter, and a stretcher functionally suspended at its ends by the said cables from said arms, said winding mechanism being operable for the raising and lowering of the stretcher with a patient disposed thereon and to support the patient on the stretcher for transportation.

2. An invalid lift as recited in claim 1 wherein supporting legs are slidably mounted in the opposite end portions of the said base structure, and adapted to be extended laterally therefrom at that side thereof on which the said standard is rotatably mounted, and caster wheels at the outer ends of said legs, and means causin said legs to be adjusted automatically to cause the casters thereon to engage in supporting contact with a surface when the legs reach a fully extended position.

3. An invalid lift as recited in claim 1 wherein supporting legs are slidably mounted in the opposite end portions of the said base structure,

for extension and retraction at that side thereof on which the said standard is rotatably mounted, and means is operable by the rotative adjustment of the standard from a position at which the suspended stretcher is disposed over the bed, toward a position laterally thereof, to cause the said legs to be extended accordingly and to be engaged in supporting contact with the surface on-which the lift is movable, said base structure having rollers therein for guiding the travel of said legs in their extending and retracting movements, and said legs having longitudinal portions thereof angularly offset and adapted to engage said rollers when the legs approach their limits of extension and cause the outer ends of the legs to be moved downwardly into contact with the supporting surface.

4. An invalid lift as recited in claim 1 wherein supporting legs are slidably mounted in the opposite end portions of the said base structure for extension and retraction at that side thereof on which the said standard is rotatably mounted, spring means attached to the said legs to actuate them from extended to retracted position, cable winding drums mounted in the base structure, and cables extending therefrom and to the standard and to the said legs whereby that turning of the standard that swings the stretcher to a position laterally of the base will cause turning of the drums and the said legs to be extended into supporting contact with a surface at that side of the base structure.

5. An invalid lift of the character described comprising a movable base structure of substantial horizontal dimensions and of limited height and adapted to be disposed beneath a bed, a standard rotatably mounted on said base structure at one side thereof, a cross-beam fixed to the standard at its upper end, and having arms at its opposite end portions extended laterally therefrom to positions over the base structure, a stretcher, and cables functionally suspending the stretcher from the ends of said arms of the crossbeam for the lifting and lowering of the stretcher onto the bed beneath which the said base structure may be disposed, said cross-beam being rotatable about the axis of the standard, downwardly extended guide rods fixed to the opposite end portions of the cross-beam, and guides on the stretcher slidably engaged with said rods to stabilize the stretcher in the rotary movements of the cross-beam and during travel of the lift.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 795,524 Leffman July 25, 1905 977,243 White Nov. 29, 1910 1,700,088 Smith et al Jan. 22, 1929 1,782,406 Bureau Nov. 25, 1930 2,193,047 Truitt et al Mar. 12, 1940 2,592,993 Adams Apr. 15, 1952 

